The Russian media conglomerate Rossia Segodnya has confirmed that photographer Andrei Stenin, who disappeared last month in Ukraine, is dead.

Rossia Segodnya (Russia Today) Director-General Dmitry Kiselyov said in a statement on September 3 that tests had concluded a body found in a burned vehicle outside Donetsk, a provincial capital held by pro-Russian separatists, was that of Stenin.

Stenin was last heard from on August 5 when he was working in eastern Ukraine, where the separatists have been fighting Ukrainian government forces since April.

Kiselyov said Stenin was on his way to cover a story when the vehicle he was in apparently was fired upon and caught fire.

Human Rights Watch and the Committee to Protect Journalists were among the many international organizations that had called on Ukrainian authorities to help locate Stenin, who some believed was being held by Ukrainian security forces.